Just browsing over both books, they look fantastic! I'm a guitarist and uke player for over 25 years and was thinking about writing a ukulele book but you've already written what I think are the best, most comprehensive and thorough books I've ever seen for the instrument. I just might end up buying every book you've written and I'll be giving my highest recommendation for your books to my friends and students. Thank you so much for taking the time to write such great books! — Peter Rhee

Aloha, Curt,
All I can say is WOW! What you have accomplished is simply incredible!
All the best — Glen Hirabayashi, The Aloha Boys

Folks, if you haven't stopped by Curt's site, do so right now! ..And get his books, they are fantastic. This guy knows his stuff and is able to pass it along too. — Alan Johnson Proprietor, The 4th Peg

I can highly recommend Curt's Uke books — I have four of them and they are excellent. — fatveg — Portland

Jazz Ukulele - Technique

Developing your ukulele “chops”!

What is Technique?

Musical technique is simply the physical aspect of playing a musical instrument. The ability to exert efficient, optimal control in order to produce the precise musical effects that are desired. Improving one's technique generally entails practicing exercises that improve one's muscular sensitivity and agility. Technique is independent of musicality.

To play the guitar or ukulele effectively, your fingers need strength, agility, flexibility and coordination.

Here's Wikipedia's definition of Technique.

Technique is the physical control and coordination needed to play an instrument or sing. It involves position, efficiency of motion and effort, as well as exercises to develop specific skills.WidipediAlink

Technique

Technique is the physical side of the instrument. Beginning with fundamentals like fingering hand position.

For guitar one aspect is using a pick, the pick hold and the picking motion.

Fingerstyle on the ukulele and guitar can and should also be explored.

Strength, independence, coordination and endurance need to be developed for the both the right and left hand, regardless whether using a pick or fingerstyle, or the hybrid technique of pick and fingers.

All aspects of right and left hand technique can developed through a series of graduated exercises to develop this strength, independence, coordination and endurance. The mechanical emphasis is just the beginning. Once you have a grip on the physical skills, you graduate into musical technique. Scales, arpeggios, intervals and sequences are all explored through the six essential fingering principles. The goal of these studies is to give you the control you need to play what you hear.

No Movement - No Sound

The right hand, for right hand players and left hand for left hand players, is responsible for getting the strings moving – No movement - no sound.

Strings can be plucked, picked, strummed and any combination of the same to get the strings moving.

Pick up your ukulele and finger a C chord. Nothing happens until you get the strings moving. Everybody sounds the same until they get the strings moving.

An interviewer once told the great guitarist, Chet Atkins. “That guitar sounds great”. Chet put the guitar down and then asked “How's it sound now?”

Initially my fingerstyle technique was limited to Bossa Nova style accompaniment using fingers. It wasn't until I started developing my concert repertoire for ukulele that I really started exploring legit fingerstyle technique. With 20 plus years as a private guitar, bass and ukulele teacher, and up to 60 students a week at times. I know the value of dedicated practice when it comes to learning specific instrument techniques.

SO I set out to explore fingerstyle and incorporate in to my playing repertoire.

Fingerpicking can be organized in to two styles:

An Alternating Thumb, a strumming style that utilizes the thumb and two fingers. on guitar it's called Travis Picking and on banjo it's Scruggs Style

And a classical guitar finger style that uses the thumb, index, middle, and ring fingers. The traditional p i m a classical guitar technique.

Left Hand

The Left Hand is the fretting hand, responsible for fingering notes and chords on the fingerboard.

The names of the left hand fingers are identified using Arabic numbers: 1 2 3 4. For guitar and ukulele the thumb doesn't count as it's main role is in support of the fingers applying an opposite and equal motion to the fingers.

Right Hand

The Right Hand is responsible for plucking or strumming the strings. Either using a pick, fingers or a combination of a pick and fingers.

If you're studying classical guitar these would be initial p i m a of their corresponding Spanish names. We're not so we'll use the English initials thumb, index, middle ring, pinky

Technique Lessons for Ukulele

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One of the largest collections of lessons, songs and TABS, archtop luthiers, ukulele builders, festival information, ukulele links on the web. I’ve been on the web since the early 90's and growing everyday. This site just never stops growing!!!

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Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

About Curt Sheller and Curt Sheller Publications

Curt Sheller Publications was created by Curt Sheller (me) in 1995 and has been on the web since. I have over 40 years of playing experience and I have been involved in private music education for the past 20 years.

With my re-introduction to the ukulele after a 20 year break and taking advantage of my jazz guitar skills, I began pursuing the potential of the ukulele. Researching the field I saw very little material organized at a level that works for intermediate to advanced players. I have developed an international reputation as a ukulele expert having written over 30 books on the subject of ukulele and over 10 books on guitar.

Student / Site Member Feature

Favorites

This is one of the many features and benefits that ALL active student and site members receive.

Use the favorite button to tag your favorite lessons and songs that you are working on or really like .

Member Access Levels

These bronze, silver and gold medals, like the Olympic medals) indicate that this lesson is either a public and free lesson, song or book , a FREE ( almost free at $1.99 a year ) membership or a PREMIUM membership lesson .

Bronze indicates that this is a public lesson with with access to any visitor - no need to sign-in or have a site membership. Public visitors can view most of the content on-line only and with smaller thumbnails. No access to downloads, play-along tracks and related lessons material for download.

Silver is the FREE ( almost free at $1.99 a year ) membership level where limited availability of downloads and all lesson material can be viewed on-line. This membership level can view thumbnails of the entire lesson - however only the downloaded file insures the latest and greatest lesson - the extra production step with updating the thumbnails doesn't always happen.

Gold This is the Premium membership level that, in addition to downloading ALL lesson content can view larger thumbnails of the content on-line. This level also has access to most of my ( Curt Sheller ) books for free download.

Each membership level has access to ALL the lower membership lessons, books and songs.